Daft Punk Thomas Helmet -- Skipped a few chapters

tekparasite

This is not a "from scratch" build thread as I bought this raw cast from a fellow RPF member (based on the quality of the work, it should not take much effort to know where it came from).

So, I have skipped a few chapters and this is my starting point.





I only have ONE shot at this, so we'll see if I can come up with a successful piece or I fall flat on my face.

I got a lot of things ahead of me: cutting, sanding, chroming, painting, mounting, gluing, tinting, soldering, fitting...

Only time will tell.

Risu

I look forward to reading this thread. I've been slowly working on my Volpin cast for about a month now, I'm sure we can share some ideas.

Boomer

Lucky you. Pity he won't ship os all I'm stuck with doing is drooling over other peoples thread.

tekparasite

Where are you located? For next time, let me know as I can help you ship it OS.

Boomer

Australia. Anyway not meaning to derail your thread. So get cracking

Agent RayBans

I'm at pretty much the same point with my bucket.

Trouble is, the misses rather likes it pink, and wants me to leave it like this.

Looking forward to following your build!

Boomer

The pink doesn't look that bad actually.

tekparasite

Pilot hole, then hack!




My hole saw wasn't big enough to cut the area I wanted, so later I had to use a dremel w/ sanding drum to reach the marked area

Now the other side


Now cutting away some excess resin


Cut out the bottom section as well


After cutting some excess resin and cardboard tube from both ear domes, it was ready for a dry test fit.


Next in line mouth and visor area....

Rabid Irish

Keep it up!

Volpin

I love this shot. Would you mind me using it for my FB props page?

Also, you guys have to promise not to finish your helmets faster than I do!

Agent RayBans

Please, feel free! I would be honored and flattered

And don't worry, that's a promise I wont have a hard time keeping, unfortunately.

tekparasite

I wouldn't worry about anyone of us finishing prior to yours. In the off chance that I do finish prior to yours, I wouldn't make it public until yours comes you. I would be happy (and honored) if later you would accept a video response or something like that which I know you have done in the past.

My highest rated and most visited video in my youtube channel is my "Guy Manuel" video and if I look at the stats, the majority of those visits came from your video link, so thank you.

By the way, every once in a while I do read the comments left for my video and it's crazy what people post: For example:

• "Can you build me one?"

• "I'll give you $100 for it?"

• "I hate you"

• "I can't believe this guy has a wife and kids"

SUPERprops

AHAhahhaha. that made my day!


And I can't wait to see how the speakers work out. Do you have any custom ideas planned?

seabaugh

I'm really digging the color myself. Seems like it should have been something the Pink Power Ranger wore.

tekparasite

Easiest cut so far was the mouth area. Some thought was put into this when Volpin designed the mold. All I had to do is shave off a little bit from the back and got a perfect square mouth.


The next cut was the visor area:

And no, I did not cut it with scissors or that blade. It was with a dremel.

There were some areas that I still had to file down by hand.

After several suggestions from fellow RPF members, I decided to cut the holes in the nose section. First I used a dremel to get most of the 'meat' out and then some files to work on the detail.


Maybe I should leave it like this. First Daft Punk Thomas helmet complete with NOSE HAIRS!

Okay, maybe not. Here's the nose section after some clean up.

Here's a view with all the cuts


Cut out a piece of posterboard to fit in there. I'll be using that posterboard later for cutting the real visor material.

tekparasite

Here's what's to come:
** Very minor touches on the cuts I just made
** Hopefully fix minor imperfections from the mold (i.e. dimple on the right-hand cheek).
** I'll put a layer of Fiberglass on the bottom back side. It's just a bit thinner than the rest of the areas. Just as a good measure.

Now, I got to think about electronics. Oh Boy!!!!
Options?
1) Belt Buckle (Weak)
2) Design my own. Giving my current knowledge, I'll have a finish date of 2030

I found this video which I think is cool.
YouTube - testing my Thomas LED
This guy already sent me the code, so I'll be messing with this approach.
We'll see.

Boomer

Progress is coming along nicely. Still drooling.

Agent RayBans

Looking good, real good.

What are you planning on doing for a visor?

tekparasite

For visor, I'll use the same material Volpin is using on his which is 1/32" clear PETG. I'll then use black RIT dye to tint it.

Agent RayBans

Great. I am really chomping at the bit to see how that comes out.

tekparasite

Since, I'm going with an 8x32 Matrix, I wanted to quickly visualize the footprint of the matrix relative to entire visor area based on a .1" spacing.

I grabbed an old prototype board. Placed 64 flat top 5mm LEDs and traced an 8x8 grid. It was quick and dirty - trust me. I then photocopied the traced area 3 times. Cut the squares and taped them next to each other. I then taped this strip onto the temp posterboard visor. Now, I can more less visualize what people may see of the matrix from different angles.

I'll probably do a more accurate one, but for now this 10min approach will suffice.

SUPERprops

I'm loving this! just a heads up before you chrome it, there seems to be a small dent on the cheek bone area(left in pic, right in real life)

tekparasite

Yep... saw that dimple. Thanks. It was also noted by the cast creator.

Volpin

Unfortunately, they all do that. It is the result of a small air bubble trapped behind a registration key in the mold. There's a few other places where the helmet has similar small marks, which is why I recommend a quick pass of sanding and a little filler before chroming these buckets.

SUPERprops

Oops, didn't mean to put you on the spot Volpin, sorry. and that is exactly what I thought would fix it.